The Best Password Managers to Secure Your Digital Life
Android 16 QPR1 Lets You Close All Your Apps Super Quick, But Should You?
Paul Jones / Android Authority
TL;DR
Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2 is here, and eager enthusiasts are digging into the update to discover all that is new. One change people have spotted includes a faster swipe through from the Recents menu, saving some time if you obsessively close all apps.
Reddit user ElectricalCulture764 noticed that swiping away apps in the Recents menu is now faster than ever before. Previously, when you opened a bunch of apps, went to Recents (swipe up and hold from the navigation pill), and tried to close the apps, you would have to wait for the full animation to complete before you could successfully swipe close the next app. The system would seemingly ignore touch input until the animation was finished.
With Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2, Pixel users can immediately swipe away all apps as fast as possible, as the system no longer waits for the animation to finish. You can catch a demo of this in the video below, courtesy of the Reddit user:
I tried it out on my Pixel 9 Pro XL running Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2, and it's definitely as snappy as shown in the video above. On the other hand, my Pixel 7a running Android 16 stable cannot close apps as quickly.
While the change is appreciated, the elephant in the room is whether you should close all your apps like this. Closing all apps from the Recents switcher was prevalent in the early Android days, when the OS struggled with RAM management and phones came with tiny amounts of RAM.
However, Android is a lot more mature now regarding RAM management (even iOS is, for that matter), and devices now ship with plentiful RAM. Unless you have a low-end device, there's little to gain from force-closing all your apps frequently with this swipe gesture, and you'll end up using more battery when the app cold starts the next time. Instead, you should reserve this swipe force-closing only for misbehaving apps.
Do you notice a difference in app closing speeds in the Recents menu on Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2? Let us know in the comments below!
Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at news@androidauthority.Com. You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.How To Force Close Apps On Your Android Device - Digital Trends
Smartphone apps are great. They're quick to load, and generally well optimized. But have you ever noticed that they tend to get faster at loading after you've used them a bit? That's not your mind playing tricks on you; it's because your Android smartphone doesn't tend to close apps even when you're done with them. Instead, it keeps them tucked away in its memory. This makes going back to apps faster, and if it becomes a memory hog, Android generally knows how to fix that.
But that isn't always the case, and in some rare situations, closing an app is required — whether it's because it's slowing your phone down, or just because you don't want it running in the background. There are a number of ways to do this, from closing a single app, to all apps at once. And as a last resort, there's the nuclear "force close" option.
We'll show you how to do them all. Here's how to force close apps on Android.
If you wish to close an application, your best bet is to swipe it away within Android's multitasking interface. Depending upon your version of Android and your smartphone manufacturer, this process can differ slightly, but it's generally the same whether you're using a Google Pixel 8 Pro or OnePlus 12. Follow the instructions below to close applications with ease.
Step 1: Access your multitasking interface using one of the following options:
Step 2: Place your finger on the app you wish to close, then swipe it up and away.
Note: Due to the vast array of smartphone manufacturers, some older Android devices may handle accessing multitasking differently. Visit your manufacturer's support page for more information on using multitasking with Android.
How to close all background appsAnother option that may allow you to work more efficiently with your smartphone is to close all Android background apps with a single button press; this can be useful when you want to free up your smartphone's memory to help run other applications. Follow the steps below to close all Android background apps with a single tap.
Step 1: Access your multitasking interface using one of the following options:
Step 2: Continue swiping to the right in the multitasking interface until you reach the list's end. On some phones, like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, you can skip this step.
Step 3: A Clear all or Close all button should now be visible; tap it to close all open applications.
Note: As noted previously, due to the vast array of smartphone manufacturers, some older Android devices may handle accessing multitasking differently. You can visit your manufacturer's support page for more information on using multitasking with Android.
How to force close an Android appThere may be instances when an application refuses to close in a usual manner or leaves other services running in the background. You may choose to force close the application in these situations, using the Android Settings app to halt the app completely. On most Android devices, force closing an app can be handled in the following manner:
Step 1: Open the Settings app.
Step 2: Select the Apps or Apps & notifications option.
Step 3: You may need to select See all apps to view all opened applications.
Step 4: Tap the application you wish to force close.
Step 5: Choose the Force stop option.
Step 6: Confirm your decision by selecting OK.
How To Find And Close Apps Running In The Background On Android
By Chris Littlechild July 30, 2023 7:00 am ESTSmartphones are designed, first and foremost, for convenience. Not only are we carrying the entire Internet, increasingly powerful cameras and much more around as a single, sleek brick, but we can switch between its innumerable functions with just a tap or swipe. The issue with a device that can do just about anything, though, is that it can be difficult to keep track of everything it's doing at any given time.
Just as with PCs, laptops, and other similar systems, Android devices perform a lot of functions behind the scenes. Some are unnecessary, yet can still cause performance issues such as crashes or further drain the battery life of your device.
A dose of regular maintenance, then, is very helpful. Fortunately, Android offers a range of simple ways to keep tabs on which apps are running, and to close those that aren't currently needed. Let's take a look at the different processes.
Finding background appsJust as we can rapidly accumulate open tabs on PCs, we can pile on open apps on Android devices while barely noticing we're doing it. To remedy this, simply tap the Overview button (or perform an upward-swipe-and-hold from the home menu if using Gestures) to see a list of all apps that are active, with the logo along the top of each for easy identification. You can scroll left or right to check through the list and swipe upwards again to close anything that's not currently needed.
These apps, however, had the decency of running in the foreground while they were being actively used. From the list, you can tap or swipe downwards to open them up in the foreground again. True background apps, however, are rather more insidious than that. To find them, follow these steps:
Open your smartphone's settings.
Scroll down to About Phone.
A rapid series of seven taps on the Build Number display will open up the Developer Options menu.
The Running Services menu provides a breakdown of the RAM of your device and how it's being used. The percentage being used by apps is shown in the middle. From here, you can scroll through the active apps and see what they are doing behind the scenes.
System will tend to account for essential services, the functionality of which probably shouldn't be messed with. Generally, though, at least some of the apps consuming RAM won't need to be doing so.
Closing unnecessary background appsIt's important to note that apps running in the background aren't necessarily a bad thing. On the contrary, restricting the ability of something like Google Play Services or other fundamental features to do so can affect the core functionality of your device. Your targets should be those apps using high RAM that you haven't opened in some time, and that you know you don't need. There are some that you could probably do without.
When you've identified one (or several), you can stop their functioning by selecting Stop on the Running Services menu, with the appropriate app highlighted.
There's another convenient way to close them too:
Open up the Apps menu from your device's main Settings.
Scroll through the list to find the app in question.
Select it and hit Force Stop. If you're sure it's not needed and won't be again, you can click Uninstall instead.
From the individual app's menu on Samsung smartphones, you can open up the Memory menu to see that app's average and maximum RAM use, which will be helpful in deciding whether it's worth removing entirely. There are some incredibly useful Android apps, of course, and it's essentially to be selective about which background apps you stop in this way.
Comments
Post a Comment